The Susan Lucci of the Communications Awards Circuit

Neil Mortine, CEO, Reflects on the Results of the PRWeek Awards

I recently returned from the annual PRWeek awards ceremony in NYC where I was honored as a finalist for the Agency Practitioner of the Year for the third consecutive year. A finalist but not the ultimate winner. Again. My colleagues now jokingly refer to me as the “Susan Lucci of the communications awards circuit” for my bridesmaid status. And, as a highly competitive person, I have to admit to feeling very disappointed.

Then I read a blog from one of our associates, Caroline Allan, who was similarly honored by the PRWeek judges as a finalist in the Young Professional of the Year category. (Fact: Four of our young associates have been recognized for this honor over the last few years, including two winners.) Rather than feeling disappointed about not winning this category, however, Caroline felt appropriately honored and excited to be one of the top five young public relations professionals in the country and motivated to do even better work moving forward.

That blog reminded me to take the time to embrace my moment as well. I realized how special it really is to be on the same list with global, iconic leaders who have most likely accomplished more for our industry and their organizations in a year than I have in my entire career. And then I realized that I’m not even considered for this recognition without the talent and collaborative efforts of our incredible team who have embraced our integrated service model that has fueled our overall corporate growth from approximately $12 million to $30 million in revenue over the last five years.

And then I started to feel better. In fact, I started to feel great. I started to get really excited and motivated about the future and what lies ahead for this group as long as we continue to embrace change, invest in our internal culture and operate with a sense of urgency in everything we do on behalf of our clients.

Don’t get me wrong. I still wanted to win that trophy. But there’s always next year. After all, even Susan Lucci eventually won her Emmy after 18 failed nominations.